We found "Tatooine"

Or to be more specific, we found a double-sun planet.

Science fiction just got real...

Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)

As I understand it, most systems are binary suns, so that doesn't seem all that out of the ordinary.

I think we're actually a statistical anomaly, as a single-sun system, and the Nemesis theory might even disprove that...

I am now known as Flyboy.

Another epsidoe in:

Astronomists Are The Chillest Scientists.

If you don't like a single Frank Ocean song, you have no soul.

Erock: Well it is a humble experience. :P

And cool. :3 But how much like earth is it? :/

ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖅ ᐊᑕᐅᓯᖅ ᓈᒻᒪᔪᐃᑦᑐᖅ

Three things.

1. Most stars are red dwarf loners. We have 15+ of them within 20 light years of Sol and less than a half dozen bright stars.
2. Most binary/ternary/star cluster planetary systems discovered so far have the planet(s) orbit around a single star not both/all.
3. Our Sun may only be the anomaly in that compared to other star systems like ours (Epsilon Eridani, Tau Ceti) we don't seem to be surrounded by a dense cloud of dust and debris.

Ah, so that's what makes this special: dual-orbit.

Hm. Intriguing. Not really important or worth noting past "oh, that's weird," but...

I am now known as Flyboy.

callme greedy but i'll get excited when they spot Jawa sand-crawlers. Finding a Exo-planet dosn't excite me much anymore unless theres water.

I'm baaaaaaack

As best as I can tell, most suns (taken to mean "A star with planets orbiting it") we have found are members of a single-star system, even though most stars are part of a multiple star system. I'm guessing that binary+ stars tend to tear apart planets before they form.

So, do we have an idea what kind of orbit the planet follows? Is it around both at one in a more or less normal orbit, or does it go between them in a figure-eight? Or is the latter even actually possible?

edited 16th Sep '11 6:01:47 AM by Balmung

Jawas are kinda better than a sentient ocean, but my newspaper says it's too cold for Jawas.

"Atheism is the religion whose followers are easiest to troll"

A figure-8 orbit would be freakishly cool; I don't care what scientific value it has.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Apparently it orbits the barycenter of the two stars, which spin around each other.

[1] This facsimile operated in part by synAC.

So it's K-Pax, not Solaris then?

"Atheism is the religion whose followers are easiest to troll"

It's also not a very good Tatooine, since the average temperature of the planet is estimated at -120F.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

That's mild when it comes to planets. It's cold, but most planets are way colder.

Anyway, the barycenter between two stars is probably far from both of'em.

You exist because we allow it and you will end because we demand it.

So, maybe Hoth?

Trump delenda est

^ Were Hoth a gas giant...

That's -80 degrees C. IIRC, it's way warmer than, Mars, Jupiter or Saturn.

edited 17th Sep '11 8:41:12 AM by SavageHeathen

You exist because we allow it and you will end because we demand it.

^ Jupiter yes, Mars not so much. There have been temps recorded on Mars that are positively Earth-like.

so basically, it looks like tatooine but feels like hoth?

edited 17th Sep '11 11:21:56 AM by Joesolo

I'm baaaaaaack

I'm still waiting for a triple-star (trinary?) system with a planet orbiting one. I shall name it Sangheilios...

Borne By Storms

^ I'm waiting on a planet to be discovered in a triple star system in such a way that the planet never sees night. I'll call it Namek.

I'm also looking for something that looks like a space-faring jellyfish and a moon proposing to its gas giant

Borne By Storms

As I understand it, most systems are binary suns, so that doesn't seem all that out of the ordinary.

beat me to the punch.

how is this a surprise? most systems in the Milky Way are multiple systems. Now the interesting part is the orbital pattern unless it just goes around one center of mass. thats a boring orbit >.>

i would love to see a real life example of a planet going around two centers of mass.

edit: just read the article.

A name like Kepler-16b is pretty typical. A nice tidy way to organize things.

Though the part about the sunsets... sounds cool. I for some reason didn't consider that with a planet oriting around both from a distance. Though a planet going in an eight shape around both separately would still be mind blowing.

edited 31st Oct '11 1:27:23 PM by jasonwill2

as of the 2nd of Nov. has 6 weeks for a broken collar bone to heal and types 1 handed and slowly

I think that its a big deal for two reasons - its a technical accomplishment since its hard to spot a small planet when its hiding in the light of two stars, and secondly because it debunks the theory that a double star system cannot form planets (the theory was that with two stars, tidal effects would basically tear planets apart. that theory is now debunked).

I haven't reviewed the article in too much detail, but I think that the other reason its a big deal is because the planet isn't boiling hot, but could plausibly have liquid water on it.

how does that bebunk it in this case?

the planet was formed far from the two stars in an elliptical orbit from what I gather, not between them. I would imagine since it orbits the same center of mass as the two suns any materials that formed the planet would of done the same. now that might be true if it orbited TWO centers of mass but that doesnt appear to be the case

EDIT: made a mistake, meant 'suns' lol

also i may be completely wrong and the above guy may be right, idk

edited 31st Oct '11 8:46:34 PM by jasonwill2

as of the 2nd of Nov. has 6 weeks for a broken collar bone to heal and types 1 handed and slowly